Taken Away
by gentlycollapse
Summary: When Agent Vaughn is kidnapped on a mission it's up to Sydney to save him. But, will she be able to save him in time? NEW CHAPTER UP!
1. Interrupted

**A/N:** Wow It's been a while since I've written an Alias fic. This idea came to me in Algebra one of those days I was not paying attention. I appreciate any reviews since I'm a little rusty on the writing front due to the recent plaugue of that cursed writer's block.

**Description:** Vaughn is kidnapped on a mission and It's up to Sydney to save him...But will she save him on time and what will she have to sacrifice on the way?

**Rating:** PG. Especially for these first few chapters...If I can watch that mouth of mine...It of course is subject to change.

**Disclaimer**: I of course own None of Alias. It and allIit's wonderful characters belong to the brilliant J.J. Abrams. Don't even bother trying to sue me I'm a broke high school student who barely has a nickle to her name. In fact I just found a penny under the couch so you know sue away.

**Now On With Chapter One...**

"We cannot just give up!" Sydney shouted as her frustration brewed.

"Sydney..." Sloane said softly, trying to calm her down. It was obviously not working.

"There are so many things we haven't tried! So many people we haven't talked to!" The volume of her voice kept rising. Hysteria was setting in.

"We were given a window of time, it's closed now. We haven't given up of course,but the official search is over. It's been three weeks." Sloane said. He was not the best when it came to condolences.

"I don't believe this." Sydney said as she fought back tears. She collapsed in the chair behind her.

"As far asthe CIA is concerned, Agent Vaughn is dead."

-3 Weeks Earlier-

She sat there, quiet. Only the sound of her inhales and exhales could be heard. She had been waiting for what seemed like forever, but time seems to tick by slowly in situations like these. Sydney Bristow leaned her head against the large wall of boxes behind her, relaxing, but not letting her gaurd down. The abandoned warehouse was dark and quiet, as an abandoned warehouse should be. It was the perfect place for 'bad guys' to do their transactions, and she was here waiting for them.

"Hey!" Someone whispered behind her. Her heart caught in her throat as she whipped herself around to see who the speaker was. She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw the face of Michael Vaughn.

"Vaughn what the hell was that!" She frantically whispered, trying not to let on how scared she had become.

"Some spy you are." He joked, taking a seat beside her. "I was tired of waiting by myself over there."

"That's kind of the point of a stakeout you know, waiting. Being quiet is kind of the deal too."

"No one is supposed to show up for another 10 minutes." Vaughn said as he smiled at her, and Sydney could no longer be mad.

"So what do you say we have dinner when we are through with this whole mission thing." Vaughn said nudging her with his elbow. Sydney didn't have to debate long.

"Sure. Now, will you please be quiet."

The two remained there, waiting. After another seemingly forever wait their patience was rewarded. The sound of a door opening could be heard from the far end of the room. That was shortly followed by the sound of footsteps getting closer. The two agents looked at each other, getting fully into mission mode. The sound of shoes against the cement could no longer be heard, signaling their visitor had stopped.

Sydney cautiously peaked around the boxes she had been hiding behind. A young male stood in the middle of the room. He was medium height, light skin, blonde hair. He wore an expensive looking pair of khaki pants, khaki jacket, and blue shirt underneath. A breifcase was in his hand, and a gun was clipped to his belt.

"Phoenix to Base." Sydney whispered into her comm. "Suspect has just arrived."

"Copy that Phoenix." Dixon replied from a black van a few miles away. "Stay still until the other man arrives."

The young man paced around the center of the room. He was constantly checking his watch, then checking the door, then checking his watch, then once again checking the door. He began to tap his foot, showing that he was impatient or his nerves were getting to him. Whichever one it was, he didn't have to worry long. The door opened once more and this time an older man stepped in.

The older man's skin was darker than the gentleman who had entered before him. His hair was jet black, and slicked back onto his head. His suit was black, and dark sunglasses covered his eyes. In his right hand he carried a large silver case. He approached the younger man and greeted him with a smile.

"Suspect 2 has arrived" Sydney spoke into her comm once more.

"Alright. Don't move until you see the package." Dixon replied.

Sydney looked past the boxes again to see the two men. They were discussing something, their voices barely audible.

"Vaughn I can't here them." She whispered, turning to him.

"You could probably move in closer, to those crates over there." Vaughn replied, pointing to a stack of crates a few feet away.

Sydney nodded, checking to see the men not looking. Vaughn watched in admiration as she crept over, moving in plain sight, without the two men noticing a thing. Vaughn's mind wandered off from the mission while he watched as Sydney listened intently to the two men's conversation. His mind, however, was soon brought back to attention when he heard the safety releasing from a gun behind his head.

"Don't Move" Was all that the man behind him said.


	2. Patience is a Virtue

**A/N:** Thank you those that reviewedalthough itwas only 4,guess i shouldn't be complaining atleast people don't hate it. I tried to make this chapter long, hopefully it's not confusing i explained a lot. This week has been so busy. Stupid Geography reports and presentations, guitar lesssons, 5 tests, BLEAH. Anyways, sorry it took so long to update, hopefully the next chapter will be up there sooner. Not that any of you care about the excuses that I give.

I forgot to add that this story takes place in Season 4, hopefully people picked up on that. Same rating, disclaimer, summary applies etc. Please review this chapter if you don't review any others, I had such a terrible time writing it since it was with the breifing and everything. I did my best to try and explain the situation with what I had floating around in my mind. Hope you like it and understand it crosses fingers

**And So The Story Continues...**

It's strange how whenever you are anticipating something, time seems to stand still. Whether it be a television show, birthday party, or a holiday. The clock just seems to tick slower while your staring at it. The past hours had felt like an eternity, and the minutes were only getting longer. Sydney sat in the APO breifing room, staring off into space, her face white, her eyes hollow. Her mind was racing at 100mph, thinking of so many things. It seemed that everything that could have gone wrong, had.

Michael Vaughn was missing, and there couldn't be anything more nerve racking. Sydney Bristow was left to wait. She was left to hope, dream, _pray_, that the man she loved was still alive. So many people had been taken from her, so many people she loved had been killed. She wanted him to be the exception. She wanted to believe that no matter what came in their way they could make it through. Whether it was supposed death, a homicidal double agent for a wife, or even kidnapping. She wanted to believe their love would survive.

She knew people were talking, the problem was paying attention.

"...and as of right now we are doing everything we can." Her mind snapped back at the sound of Arvin Sloane's voice. He stood in the middle of the white room, adressing the agents sitting around the table. The usual bunch was in the room, along with new faces. Most of them were clad in black, serious expressions on their faces, a few were jotting down notes. Eric Weiss sat beside Sydney, offering his comfort, but it was little help.

"I think we should go over what we know, and discuss what should be done. As you all know, Agent Vaughn was kidnapped 4 hours ago in Spain. Luckily, Agent Bristow managed to make it out." Sloane continued, looking towards Sydney with sincerity in his eyes.

Sydney Bristow didn't believe _luckily_ was the appropriate word. She would have preffered being taken with him, atleast knowing what happened to him. Not sitting here, trying to be optimistic. It was more like trying to be nieve, not wanting to face reality, to face the fact he could be dead. If she was wherever he was now, whether it be suffering with him, dead with him, or trapped with him. It would have been better than not knowing where he was, not having a clue when he would get back, and not knowing if he was still alive.

"Now, it was supposed to be a simple mission. The two agents were sent with Agent Dixon to intercept an explosive that was being transfered at an abandoned warehouse in Madrid. We got intel of this transaction, and immediately sent the agents into the field." Sloane continued. He scanned two men's photos on to the computer screen. "The two men making the transfer were both members of the former Covenant. One of the men had stolen an explosive known as Black Thunder, the other man was purchasing it for unknown reasons. Maybe we went in unprepared, but the two men brought more people with them than expected. Agent Vaughn was caught off gaurd, and the two men escaped. There was one casualty of a John Doe, he was with one of the men. Agent Bristow shot him during her escape, his body has still not been identified."

"The blonde man who stole the explosive is Thomas Caine, American. The dark headed man is Manuel Sanchez, a native of Spain, he was purchasing it. Both have been on our suspected terrorist list for quite some time now, and both were members of the former covenant, as I mentioned earlier. We have agents checking out all their known residences, so far they are no where to be found. We have numerous people meeting with contacts, trying to find out about these men. You people here are to wait until we get a lead. We have all the men we can out in the field, we need some here to wait and be deployed when needed."

Sloane finished talking and returned to his seat. He nodded towards Marshall Flinkman, for him to begin.

"Thank you..Mr. Sloane..." Marshall said, in his usual nervious way. "I tried to track the signal off Agent Vaughn's comm system to see where he might be. Let's just say I had no luck. Now I made these systems, so their good. They would give a signal in most areas. So most likely it was destroyed. They uh probably stepped on it, or broke it in half, or you know shot it or something. I sure hope it was off his head... you know if they shot it..because then..." Marshall looked around noticing the shocked expression on people's faces. "I mean..sorry...you know they probably stepped on it..." Marshall nervously sat back down. Regretting his sentences.

"Thank you Marshall." Sloane said dryly. "Stake outs have been organized at their residences, hang outs, businesses, everywhere down to their grandmother's house. Their telephones and computer are all bugged. If they show up, we will see them. Agents are raiding empty warehouses, former covenant buildings, anywhere Agent Vaughn might be held. We are looking in both Spain and America. I don't think there is much more to be done, as of right now, it seems they have dissapeared. I don't think I have anything more to say...so you are dismissed."

"That's it?" Sydney questioned before anyone could stand up. "It's impossible for someone to just dissapear. They are somewhere, Vaughn is somewhere."

"Sydney you are not the only person who wants Agent Vaughn back." Sloane said softly, sincerity in his voice. "I am doing all that I can do, we have everyone looking, this is our top priority."

"And I am supposed to sit and wait until this is over?" Sydney said, her voice rising, showing no sign of calming down.

"We are all supposed to sit and wait until this is over." It was Jack who spoke this time, his tone was quiet. "There is nothing more that we can do. Unless you want to go and stake out some building, you can not help this situation."

The agents around the room were staring at her. Nadia looked at her sister, wishing she could comfort her. Weiss watched Sydney, hoping she would understand, hoping she would be alright.

Sydney breathed a heavy sigh. She nodded her head, understanding. She had to wait, and no one knew for how long. The only thing left to do was stare at the clock. The second hand getting slower, the minute hand not moving, the hour hand frozen still. It was going to be a long wait, and Sydney Bristow was not a patient person.

- **Elsewhere -**

He slowly opened his eyes, adjusting his eyesight to the dark surroundings. The floor beneath him was cold, damp. Concrete walls surrounded him on three sides, bars made up the third wall. His head was throbbing, his joints were aching. The cell was dark, a small light luminating a small area on the ground where he was lying. It took him a few minutes to remember the past hours.

He remembered the mission, the warehouse. He remembered hearing gun fire and screaming. He could remember men yelling in Spanish, Sydney yelling his name. That's when he felt the pain at the back of his head. That's when his memory went blank.

Now he had a headache, no clue where he was, where Sydney was. He heard chatter in the distance, down the dark hallway. He saw no one, he just heard two male voices. They were speaking spanish, or atleast that's what it sounded like to his ears. He didn't attempt to pick up their words. He just remained there on the damp dirty floor of the cell he had somehow ended up in. He was curled up, almost in the fetal position. He wanted to do something, to try and get out, to see where he was. But he couldn't. All he could do was remain on the ground. Listening to the men in the background.

He fought off the urge to close his eyes again, but he was tired, he was hurting, he was lost. Shutting his eyes was the easiest thing to do, and he gave into tempation. He would deal with his surroundings later. For now, he would close his eyes, and wait for his headache to go away.


	3. Tough Decisions

**A/N:** I'm Baacckkk. Once again thank you for the reviews. Although more would really help. Alright. Here's the next chapter. And I happen to be Extremely proud of myself for getting this updated so quickly, and including Spanish dialouge. So you know I've taken 9 years of Spanish so hopefully some of that paid off. I really do seriously apologize if i've messed up any grammar so you real, or decent, spanish speakers, do let me know if there is a serious error in some things that I'm saying. And I used a translator for words I didn't know so blame the translator. gah.

This chapter gets kind of rough like with descriptions of torture almost so just to BE SAFE. I changed the rating to PG-13, Plus i had to throw in a few bad words, add to the effect.

Don't worry the chapter is SO much better than this author's note...

**Once Upon A Time...**

He awoke to exactly what he had fallen asleep to. A cold damp cell, dim lighting, and the sound of chatter off in the distance. Michael Vaughn didn't know how long he had been asleep but it had been long enough, his headache was now gone. He slowly sat himself up, removing himself from the cement floor. He leaned his back against the wall, letting his head fall against it.

_"Alright, It's time to use my CIA training"_ He thought to himself, as he tried to determine his surroundings.

He had heard Spanish when he was taken, when he had fallen asleep, and now. "_Alright I'm somwhere they speak Spanish, Spain? That Manuel guy was from Spain. I'm probably in Spain." _ Vaughn determined, satisfied with himself.

Now for this cell. It was cold, dark, and damp. He had gotten that far. This cell was in a hallway, or atleast that is what Vaughn had determined. To get a closer look would mean he would have to move, and he was not ready for that. He was taking baby steps here.

_"Maybe I'm in some kind of old abandoned jail? Military Facility? Someone's basement? Forget this."_ Vaughn was becoming frustrated.Enough being an agent. There was time for that later, right now he was a prisoner. He was a hungry prisoner.

For a while he debated going back to sleep, it seemed to work last time. The rumbling of his hungry stomach and the dryness of his parched throat seemed to be preventing any rest. His headache was slowly coming back, and he was quickly getting tired of this situation. He closed his eyes, atempting to relax.

"Usted! Agente! (_YOU! AGENT!)" _Vaughn shot his eyes open to the sound of a man's voice. A hispanic man stood outside the cell. He was dressed in beige camaflouge, but Vaughn could care less what he was wearing. Vaughn was too busy looking at the large machine gun in his hand.

"¿Dónde estoy? (_Where Am I?)_" Vaughn asked, his voice came out weak and raspy.

"Usted no consigue hablar hasta que digo. ¿Comprendo?_ (You don't talk until I say so. Understand?)" _The hispanic man said, his tone harsh. Vaughn nodded his head.

"¿Cuál es su nombre? (_What's your name.)_" The man asked, his voice quieter this time, but far from polite. Vaughn debated with himself for a minute before answering the man's question. _"Do I give my real name? Do I lie? Do I ignore him? Is he going to shoot me?"_ Vaughn was not being a good agent today.

"Soy Michael Vaughn. (_I'm Michael Vaughn.) _Forget lying. That was one big machine gun.

"Levántese. (_Get Up)" _The man demanded. Vaughn let out a loud sigh as he struggled to get himself up. His joints hurt, his legs were weak. He had managed to stand, walking was a different story.

The hispanic man motioned him to come to the bars of the cell. He took out a ring of keys and began to unlock the door as he watched Vaughn struggle to walk over. Slowly but surely, Vaughn made it to the door. The hispanic man opened it, allowing Vaughn to step out.

"Usted caminará con mí. (_You Will Walk With Me)_" The man demanded, jabbing the machine gun into Vaughn's back.

Vaughn was led down the hallway. Atleast he was right in his guess that there was one, not all of his spy skills had gone down the drain. More cells were scattered down the hallway, all similar to his. Most of the cells were empty, others contained occupants that had been there considerably longer than he had. The occupants were all of various races, most of them had long unshaven beards, were emaciated, laying on the ground. Vaughn cringed as he walked by, praying he would not look like that in a month. Without knowing it Vaughn had slowed down. He was staring at the men in the cells, suddenly feeling sick. The man behind him continued to jab the machine gun further into his back, quickening his pace.

"Usted parecerá ése pronto. Si no le matamos primero. (_You will look like that soon. If we don't kill you first.)_" The hispanic man said, continuing to lead Vaughn down the hallway. The man stopped at a large steel door. A control panel was beside it, the man opened it up and revealed a keypad. He typed in a few numbers Vaughn did not pick up, and the steel door opened. The man pressed the gun against Vaughn's back, signaling him to enter the room.

In the center was a steel silver table. Two uncomfortable looking steel chairs were on either side. "Siéntese. (_Sit.)_" The man said, pointing Vaughn to one of the chairs. Vaughn went and sat as the hispanic man made his way over to the corner of the room. The door to the room opened again and two men entered, the two men from the warehouse. Thomas Caine, the blonde man went and sat in the chair across from Vaughn. The hispanic, Manuel Sanchez, muttered something to the man who had 'kindly' led Vaughn here. He gave Vaughn a long stare, before turning and leaving the room.

"Agent Vaughn..." Thomas Caine said. A smile appearing on his face. "I must say it's a pleasure to meet you, as a former friend of Mr. Sark I've heard some stories. It's a shame how easily you were captured. I was hoping for a worthy opponent."

Vaughn's face remained stolid. Ignoring the man and his comments. "I see you don't want to talk. That's fine, I'll just talk for now." Caine said. "You see Mr. Vaughn, I'm going to tell you why you are here. Then you are going to cooperate with me, or I will promise some drastic measures."

Seeing Vaughn's face not change, Caine continued. "As you know, Mr. Sark and Mrs. Reed played a very large part in the Covenant, they were heading up the North American cell. You know Mrs. Reed right..." Caine said, noticing the tensing in Vaughn at the sound of her name. "She was a bitch wasn't she. Anyways, from what I have heard and assumed, both of them no longer run it. The Covenant has fallen apart, there are seperate branches and new branches of it arriving, but I want the original back. I will be responsible for bringing the original back. You Mr. Vaughn, are going to help me."

"I don't think I want to." Vaughn said, anger boiling inside him.

"I hate to tell you Mr. Vaughn, but you have no choice." Caine said. "You see I went to that warehouse in Spain to sell an explosive to Mr. Sanchez. Mr. Sanchez has played a very large part in the branch of the Covenant over in Europe. You could call it...kissing ass...but he wanted an explosive, and I got it for him. I'm making allies you see, soon I'm going to begin the repair of the Covenant over in North America. This is where you come in Mr. Vaughn, you are going to give me CIA info. You are going to tell me passwords, safe houses, upcoming missions, hideouts, names of undercover agents. You see where I'm going with this? With all that information on hand, people will follow me wherever I want to go. I know people who would pay millions for information such as that. You're a valuable man Mr. Vaughn."

"Once again, I don't think I want to help you." Vaughn replied. His face remained stolid, showing no emotion.

"You really under estimate me. I didn't think you would just give up all that intel. That's why I'm going to threaten you. First, I will slowly torture you. I'll begin light of course, a punch here and there. Then I'll let my friend Diego have a go at you. He can beat you until his knuckles are sore." Caine said, gesturing towards the man who had led Vaughn in here. Diego smiled while cracking his knuckles. "If that doesn't work. I'll start getting rough. I will shock you, stab you, inject you with drugs that will make you wish you were dead."

"If I gave you information, you could kill thousands of people. My death would be nothing to save all of their lives." Vaughn stated, staring Caine straight in his eyes.

"Again with the quick conclusions Mr. Vaughn! Let me finish. I said you would WISH you were dead, I never said I would kill you. First, I would take the pleasure of killing your family and your friends. You better believe their death won't be quick and painless. The good part is you will watch while I do it. If by then, you haven't divulged the information I want, I will lock you in a dark room until you scream CIA passwords at me. I'm serious here Mr. Vaughn. Don't act stupid. Now what do you say?"

"Forget it. If I divulge CIA information nothing would stop you from killing my family and friends anyways. Not to mention me. I haven't known you for long Mr. Caine but from what I've learned in this short amount of time is that you are a heartless man. That much information in your hands would do much more harm than anything you could do to me." Vaughn said harshly. He stared into Caine's dark eyes, waiting for a response. Hoping Caine would not notice the weakness behind his statement, hoping Caine would not recognize his real fear.

"You are a stubborn man, Mr. Vaughn. But Sark was right in saying you were a complete fool." Caine said with a smile. "Diego, lead Mr. Vaughn back to his cell. He has been here 12 hours, let's give him 12 hours thinking time. No food or water." With that, Caine got up and left the room.

"You heard him Deigo. Let's get out of here." Vaughn said coldly. Wondering if he had just made the biggest mistake of his life, Vaughn was led back into his cell. There was no easy way out of this, there was no escape. Vaughn was between a rock and a hard place, and lives were depending on him. This 12 hours thinking time would do him some good.


	4. Here And There

**A/N:** Alright Chapter 4. It's been atleast a week since I updated last...oops...Got sidetracked with midterms at school. Which i managed to make all A's on by the way.

Anyway...

I got the title and idea of this chapter from the last ER episode, so it's not mine.

**Chapter 4-Here and There**

Sydney sat in her desk staring at a blank computer monitor. Her mind was elsewhere, thinking of so many things. She was sleepy, exhausted, stressed. She had not slept in three days and it hadn't been from lack of trying. Her father, Nadia, Weiss, all begged her to go home. She did, but returned 4 hours later. Sleep hadn't come, and it wasn't going to. Not until he was back.

It wasn't that people hadn't tried to help. Everyone had tried to help. Everyone had tips, condolences, sympathies, questions. She didn't need any more questions, she needed a solution, and no one had one. So far everything had led to a dead end. No progress had been made.

Nadia approached behind her sister and noticed Sydney staring at the empty screen. She shook her head and pulled up a chair beside her.

"It helps if you turn it on." Nadia said, reaching her arm over and turning the computer on.

"Thanks." Sydney said, awakening from her daze. Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair was messy. "I was going to, guess I got distracted."

"You need to rest." Nadia said.

"I've tried and I can't. I close my eyes and I see his face. I turn on the TV, and I see a show that reminds me of him. I eat and I remember something he had said. It's ridiculous. Am I over reacting here?" Sydney said, her tone a little frantic.

Nadia put her hand on her sisters back, offering comfort. "You aren't over reacting. You just need to relax, the CIA is trying."

"I was missing for two years, and the CIA did not find me. Excuse me for being cynical but I have my doubts about the CIA's abilities."

"Just try and get some rest okay. I have to go, my father wanted to talk to me about something." Nadia said, standing up. "You call me if you need me."

Sydney nodded her head as Nadia walked away. Forgetting what she planned to do on the computer, Sydney put her head in her hands. He had been gone for three days now, that's all she could think about. Everyone had kept repeating 'the entire CIA is working to find him'; but no one had found him yet.

This situation was getting to old fast. Sydney sat at her desk and stared at her phone. Maybe staring at it was not going to make it ring, but it was better than staring at the clock. Anything was better than staring at the clock.

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Vaughn stared intently at the clock on the wall as another punch landed hard on his face, adding another bruise to the collage that was already on his face. He felt blood on his cheek, but had no clue where it was coming from. For the past two days he had endured this. He had endured this for two days too long. He watched the minutes ticking away, getting his mind off of the pain he was going through.

Another punch came. This one landing hard on his right cheek. He winced, holding in his pain as well as he could.

Michael Vaughn sat tied in a chair. A large hispanic man stood in front of him, dressed in the same army suit as the man who Vaughn had met before. This man was larger however, his face was stern. The man cracked his knuckles, then balled them in a fist to send another punch. Before he was able to the door to the room swung open.

"Antonio, give him a break." Thomas Caine said, entering the room. Antonio gave a look of dissapointment, then lowered his fist. He spat on the ground beside Vaughn, then exited the room. "You don't look so well." Caine said, grabbing onto Vaughn's hair and turning his head around. Caine admired the bruises and cuts along Vaughn's face while Vaughn struggled to stay quiet. The words he wanted to say would only make the situation worse, so he remained there, tied to the steel chair in the middle of the empty room.

"I imagine you aren't ready to divulge information yet?" Caine said, releasing his grip on Vaughn's hair.

"Not yet." Vaughn said monotonously.

"Very well then. Personally, this is fun for me. You see I've been talking around. People are looking for you." Caine said, causing Vaughn's intrest to peak. "Agents are all over the place, staking out places I would normally go. They are never going to find this place, no one but me and a select few others know where this place is. I'm not making phone calls and I'm not leaving here."

"Don't give yourself too much credit. They'll find you." Vaughn said, staring into Caine's eyes.

"You're a stubborn man Mr. Vaughn." Caine said pacing around him. "I kind of like you, you would make a good employee of mine. But there are some serious diffrences between us, and a partnership wouldn't work." Caine said smirking. "I've gotten word that the CIA is talking to some old friends of mine. You see I was a popular man, no one is saying anything about me. Not to mention I've threatened people with their lives if they do. No one is going to come for you Mr. Vaughn. I hate to let your sprits down."

Vaughn did not remove his glare from Caine. "I see. Well, it was nice talking to you again I'll let Antonio return, he's a big man but a big baby inside. I wouldn't want to keep him away from you too long or he'll start getting whiny." Caine said, he gave Vaughn a pat on the shoulder as he left the room.

Antonio entered again and cracked his knuckles once more. He punched Vaughn hard in the stomach causing Vaughn to groan in pain. He watched the clock as more seconds ticked away, more seconds of this pain ticking away. These beatings usually ran on hour long intervals. He didn't have much long to go.

Someone had to come for him. This place was not impossible to find. There was a contact somewhere that would divulge the information needed. Vaughn was sure of this. He had to be optimistic about something.

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Sydney was quickly running out of things to be optimistic about.

Sloane had already sent Weiss and Nadia on a seperate mission to recieve intel on a computer chip. He had said it was a neccesity. That this matter had to be dealt with. He said it would not interfere with the search for Vaughn. But it was interfering. People's minds were already drifiting away. Sydney did not want Vaughn to be another dead agent. Another plaque on the wall.

Five days. Five days had gone by and they had all been the same as the last four. Another day with no leads, another day with no information.

Sydney was fed up with waiting. She was fed up with not getting any sleep. She was ready to do something.

Sydney stood from her desk when she saw Sloane walking down the hallway. "Sloane!" She said, getting his attention.

"Yes Sydney." he said, stopping in front of her.

"I was thinking that I could go to the federal prison. Talk to some former Covenant members, maybe even Sark. See if they have any information on this Thomas Caine guy."

"Sorry Sydney but we've tried. The agents we have in custody have been closed off from the world. They don't know what's going on with the Covenant, or the lack of the Covenant. What they provided was little help. They told us that Thomas Caine was a devoted Rambaldi follower, very determined, and was never satisfied with his meaningless position in the former Covenant. They also said he was an all around nice guy." Sloane said.

"Well what about Covenant members we don't have locked up. What abou..." Sydney began to speak but was interrupted.

"Sydney don't underestimate what I've tried. No one is talking, and the ones that do have given us meaningless information. I understand what you're going through, I know it's tough. But I'm trying. I know I've said this before, but you need to get some sleep. You look awful" Sloane walked off and went into his office.

Sydney sighed and seated herself again. She didn't want sleep.

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Vaughn would have given anything to go to sleep. He laid on his back on the cold cement floor of his holding cell. Bruises and scrapes covered his body and he could hardly move without pain engulfing him. His limbs were sore and his rib felt like it was broken. He winced as he tried to move into a comfortable position.

He wasn't given a cot, a blanket, or a pillow. He was given a cold floor, a dim light, and a questionable bottle of water. If he had to use the bathroom he was escorted there. He was fed every 12 hours, and the meals were far from filling.

Vaughn had managed to move himself into a streched out position on the ground. He removed his shirt and balled it into a pillow. After laying there for several minutes his eyelids closed and sleep finally over took him.

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Sydney tossed in her bed once more. She was sleepy, tired, exhausted, but sleep would not come. It had been 6 days. She had been counting diligently. In fact it had been 6 days, 7 hours. She knew that doing this was only stressing her more, but she could not help herself.

Her father had persisted more, so she had once again returned home. She had been laying in her bed for half an hour now, wide awake, staring at the ceiling. Tomorrow it would be a week since he had been taken. One week he had been gone.

Finally, she decided to clear her head. If she kept this up she would surely go insane. 'Sleep would help' She told herself, and she finally managed to close her eyes.

Sleep soon crept over her, providing much needed rest.


	5. Concerning Partnerships

**Chapter 5- Concerning Partnerships.**

"I've talked to Langley." Sloane said, breifing the room. "They've assessed the situation and they've decided to give us two more weeks to find Agent Vaughn."

"They've assessed the situation?" Sydney asked in a harsh tone. The other men and women in the room turned to stare in her direction.

Sloane took a moment before answering, he expected this reaction. "Based on the fact that as of right now we do not know where Agent Vaughn is and we have not heard anything from his captors we have been giving two weeks, or he is assumed dead." He replied softly. He folded his arms in his lap, prepared for the outlash to come.

"What do you mean we have no idea where he is? We've been talking to every last known Covenant affiliate we know for the past week! You mean to tell me that we have NO idea where he is?" Sydney spoke again, her tone as loud as Sloane had expected.

"We believe he may be somewhere in Spain. Sydney I've told you this as many times as I can, being irrational will not help anything. People are not talking, we can't find Caine. Langley was generous to give us two weeks. We have no indication that says Agent Vaughn is even alive." Sloane said, noticing his voice raising a little. He hated to tell this to Sydney, but she needed to know the truth. As much as she would have wanted the watered down version, she needed to know the truth.

Sydney folded her hands and rested her head in them. Weiss sat beside her and stroked her back, offering comfort.

Sloane breathed heavily shaking his head. "That's all I wanted to tell you. Continue what you are all doing, I will let everyone know immediately if something new comes up." Sloane said, giving a light smile before standing up from his chair and leaving the room. Other agents followed behind him including Jack and Weiss. Sydney remained seated, her head still in her hands. Nadia approached with a simpathetic expression on her face. She noticed the tears coming from Sydney's eyes and offered a hug to her sister.

"Two weeks is longer than you think." Nadia said.

"If they are anything like this past week it's going to feel like an eternity." Sydney said, gathering her composure. "What do you think?"

"What do you mean what do I think?"

"You know what I mean, do you think Vaughn is alive? Do you think we'll get him back?" Sydney said, now looking directly at her sister.

"Sydney, I don't know." Nadia said calmly, "Only time will tell now."

"That's what I'm worried about." Sydney said, standing from her seat. She gave her sister a smile, for now she would be alright. Sydney turned and left the room, heading back to her desk to continue what she had done all last week.

Things had died down, the first couple of days the phones were ringing off the hooks. People were running everywhere in an attempt to bring the agent back. Now, the agents sitting on stake outs had been reduced by a half. Phone calls were coming in less frequently and they had almost ran out of people to talk to.

All Sydney had to do during the day was think. They would not let her go on any missions, for emotional stablity reasons, although Sydney argued otherwise. She didn't want to go home, there was nothing there but memories and the feeling of being alone. So she spent her days sitting at her desk thinking, perhaps it was more destructive than good. The first few days she had thought about his return, then she began to think about what he was going through, now she thought about the fact that he could be dead. Sloane was right, there was no indication that he wasn't. All Sydney was left with was hope, and faith if you favored to use that strong of a word. She was struggling to hold on to both

0101010101010101011010100.

Thomas Caine sat in a small confined room with another man. The man was tall, black hair, and appeared to be of mixed hispanic descent. They had been sitting and discussing businness for the past hour now, the two were looking towards a partnership.

"I hear you have an agent in custody? I'm eager to hear about this." The dark haired man said, changing the subject of the conversation.

"Oh yes, I hope to gain a lot from him." Caine replied, a proud smile on his face. "I've had some trouble getting information from him. So far he hasn't divulged any."

"What do you mean? He hasn't divulged any information yet?" The dark haired man said, a confused look on his face. "How long has he been here?"

"A little over a week now I believe." Caine said, the smile dissapearing from his face.

"He has not said anything in two weeks?" The dark haired man asked.

"Oh he's said plenty." Caine said sarcastically, "He's insulted me many times. I just can't get any information out of him yet, I'm working on it."

"Mr. Caine you are hoping to build a terrorist organization and you can not get one agent to talk? I've met men in the past who could get information from people by looking at them." The man said, laughter almost in his tone

"This agent refuses to crack, I've had guards beat him senseless since he got here." Caine replied, "Mr. Cruz, are you doubting my abilties?"

"I'm only saying, if you are looking to control a group of rowdy, law breaking, bomb making terrorists, you have to be able to control one little CIA agent." Mr. Cruz said, inching himself closer to Caine.

Cruz spoke again in an almost friendly tone. "Look Tom, I have a reputation. I could go far, I'm not sure if a partnership with you would be the best thing for my career."

"Your career?" Caine said, his voice raising "I've offered you a partnership to begin a new terrorist organization, and you turn me down? What else are you going to do?"

"I don't know, but if I try and run a failed organization I will be laughed at. Unlike you, I held a high position in the Covenant" Cruz said, his tone lower.

Thomas Caine clearly took offense to the remark. "This is how you show gratitude for me giving you a chance? Unlike you Mr. Cruz I have begun my crusade to begin a new organization. I have an agent in custody, whether he is talking or not. Apparantly this meeting was a mistake."

"Clearly." Cruz said, getting up from his seat. "I'm sorry but I don't know my way to the door."

"Good luck finding it." Caine said, getting up and walking out the door. He headed down the hallway away from Cruz's sight.

01010110101010101011010101

Caine leaned against a wall for a moment, collecting his composure. After taking a series of deep breaths, he opened the door beside him and stepped into the room full of lounging men. The men sat around a table smoking and laughing. They quickly got quiet at the sound of Mr. Caine's entrance.

"Listen up." Caine said, and the men quickly did. "That Agent we have in custody, Mr. Vaughn. Do whatever you have to, I want him to crack. I'll give him another couple of days, if he hasn't disclosed what I want, I'll deal with him directly."

"So I take it your meeting with Mr. Cruz didn't go so well?" One of the men said.

"No, It didn't. Now I'm left without a prospect for a partner, I don't think I can just place an add in the yellow pages."

"I'm available." The man said again, a wide smile on his face.

Caine gave the man a look then turned and left the room.

Michael Vaughn was getting on his last nerve.


	6. Breaking The Silence

**A/N: Sooooo sorry for the hiatus. Marching band started and I was consumed 24/7. So here's an update and I promise more soon!**

**Chapter 6-Breaking The Silence**

A loud noise echoed through the room as the whip came in contact with his bare back. He grunted in pain as another mark was left and another cut opened. A shirtless Michael Vaughn stood chained to the wall. Yet another different gaurd dressed in the usual attire stood with whip in hand, striking it against Vaughn's back. He reered the whip back once again and brought it down hard, once again causing Vaughn to shout in pain. The gaurd grabbed Vaughn's hair and turned his head around.

"Had enough yet?" He grunted into Vaughn's face.

"Is this some kind of sick fantasy of yours?" Vaughn joked, probably not the best idea in afterthought. The gaurd took his free hand and punched Vaughn hard in the face.

"Tell me what intel the CIA has on Mr. Caine." The man said, tightening his grip on Vaughn's hair. After a long silence the gaurd spat on the ground beside him. "Answer me!" he said, pulling his fist back for another punch.

Before the fist could land on his face Vaughn opened his mouth, "All the CIA knows is that Mr. Caine was a former member of the Covenant." The gaurd lowered his fist, a smile widening on his face. "That's all we knew about him when we went into the mission."

"I knew it would only be a while before you cracked." He released his grip on Vaughn's hair. "Now that your talking, why don't you tell me who that agent was that was with you." Vaughn immediately closed his mouth and stared into the gaurd's eyes.

"Sorry, but I'm not telling you that." Vaughn said, returning the stolid look to his face.

"Someone special to you?" The gaurd asked, a slight chuckle in his voice. Vaughn did not reply, he just kept his glare on the man. "Very well, I'll let Mr. Caine know that you're atleast talking a little bit." The man smirked and he turned and left the room.

Outside of the room Thomas Caine paced down the hallway. At the sound of the door opening he shot his head up and saw the gaurd leaving, a smile wide on the man's face.

"Did he say anything?" Caine said hopefully.

"He only said that the CIA knew nothing about you before the mission. I asked him about the agent with him on the mission, he wouldn't talk." The gaurd answered.

Caine let out a sigh of releif. "Atleast he is talking. Good job, I'll take it from here." Caine said, patting the man on the back. The gaurd left down the hallway and Caine turned to enter the room.

Arvin Sloane sat in his office, deep in conversation with someone over the phone. Sydney watched from a distance as the expression on Sloane's face continued to change. She was looking for a sign, anything that showed the phone call brought good news. The wrinkles on Sloane's forehead gave it away. He hung up the phone, and looked up to see Sydney watching. He looked at her for a moment, then shook his head. He stood up from his chair and exited his office, making his way over to where he was standing. "That was Langley, they've run the last of Caine's credit cards. He has made no purchases in the last two and a half weeks. Same thing with his checking account."

"So he's hiding out somewhere?" Sydney asked, desperate to find information.

"Judging how everyone is out looking for him and he has not turned up anywhere, I would say so. I wouldn't think he's traveling, we have people looking for him in airports and train stations. He could be driving, but even that is still risky. We have found absoloutely no sign of him since the abduction."

"What if he handed Vaughn off to someone else? How are we even sure Vaughn is still with Caine?" Sydney said, the familiar frantic tone in her voice.

"We don't know. That's what I've been trying to tell you." Sloane put his hand over hers. "Just calm down."

Sydney quickly removed her hand from under his. "You are asking me to calm down? There is only 4 days left until Vaughn is declared dead." Her voice continued to raise. "We know nothing? How is it that we know nothing?"

"Sydney the CIA can not win them all. When something like this occurs we accept it, and act like proffessionals. It's part of the job. You chose this job, you chose this life, and you chose the consequences." Sloane turned to leave, but stopped when Sydney spoke.

"I didn't choose this. I wanted to graduate college, I wanted to get married." Sloane turned to see Sydney staring directly at him. "This life chose me. I tried to get out of it, but I couldn't. I've lost too many people to sit back and loose Vaughn. I went through Danny's death, Francie is dead because of me. I will not be responsible for Vaughn's death."

"You're not responsible." Sloane said softly. He stared at the ground, refusing to look at Sydney directly.

"I will be if I sit back and let this happen." It was Sydney who left this time. She turned and walked through the office, heading for the front door. Sloane brought his hand up to rub his forehead. He looked at his watch, then went back into his office to make another phone call.

Thomas Caine walked into the room. He smirked when he saw Vaughn chained to the wall. "Comfortable?" He asked, walking up to where he was.

Vaughn kept his gaze focused on the floor, not looking up. "I can't really feel anything anymore. So it doesn't matter."

"Well, you're talking now. So we might go easier on you." Caine said. "Now, I'm just going to ask questions. It's going to be like a game. I'll ask them until you stop talking. The minute you stop, I bring a guard in here."

"Doesn't sound like a game to me." Vaughn said looking up. His face was bruised and his lip was bleeding. The rest of his body appeared the same way, showing exactly what he had endured the past two weeks.

"Let's start out easy. How long have you been with the CIA?"

"I was recruited in 1994." Vaughn said immediately.

"Very good." Caine began to pace around the room. "Married?"

"No." Vaughn stated, his eyes following Caine.

"You're doing very well." Caine said, stopping. "Now tell me about the agent who was with you on the mission."

Vaughn shifted his gaze to the floor again, not answering. "Come on Mr. Vaughn, why won't you tell me." Caine asked, beginning to walk closer to him. "It was a woman right? I didn't get a good look at her." Caine said, now directly in front of Vaughn.

"She was a rookie, her name was Brown or something like that. It was my first time working with her." Vaughn said, looking into Caine's eyes.

Caine stared at Vaughn for a minute, studying his face to see if he was lying. "She didn't look like any rookie I had seen. She managed to escape, killing one of my men in the process."

"She's good." Vaughn stated, a stern look on his face. Caine still hesitated, he studied Vaughn's face until he was satisfied.

"Very well. It's a shame you didn't tell us this sooner, it would have saved you some pain." Caine said, backing up from Vaughn. "You've endured enough for the day, I'll let you return to your cell."

Caine turned and opened the door behind him, he stuck his head out the door and spoke something Vaughn did not pick up. The gaurd who was in the room earlier entered. "Get him down would you?" Caine said to the man. "Get him a cot as well, he deserves a reward for his cooperation." The gaurd nodded and Caine began to leave the room. "I'll speak to you tomorrow Mr. Vaughn. The questions will a be a bit harder."

"Can't wait." Vaughn said, as the gaurd began to unchain him from the wall.

* * *

So what do you guys think? Hopefully it was somewhat worth the wait! 


	7. Channel Surfing

I'm back! A small little angsty chapter, hope it satifies you. Please review!

**Chapter 7-Channel Surfing**

Sydney repeatidly pressed the up button on the television remote. There was nothing on TV, atleast nothing she was intrested in watching. But she went up and down the channels once more, keeping her mind occupied. The more she focused on the TV screen, the less she focused on Michael Vaughn. She did not want to think about what day it was, she did not want to think about the agency, and she did not want to think about a certain missing agent. 

Over the past few days she had hung around her apartment, Sloane had told her to stay at home. For mental health reasons, he had said. He probably was tired of Sydney asking for an update every half hour. He was probably tired of saying there wasn't anything to update about. The agents had hit a brick wall, they had no where left to search. If it was possible for a human to vanish, Caine had done it, and he had taken Vaughn with him.

She had only left the house to go on an occasional jog, to try and clear her mind. On her jogs she would find herself in the park and she would become lost in happy memories. She would sit on a park bench and remember the times she had met Vaughn here. Then she would realize her current situation, and the good memories were replaced by immediate worry and fear. The past few weeks had been the worst in her life. She had thought the worst moment was when she realized Vaughn was married, but this beat it by far. Atleast then she could still see him, talk to him.

Now he was gone.

Sydney's mindless channel surfing was interrupted when the apartment door opened behind her. Startled, Sydney dropped the remote and turned around to see her sister entering with a bag of groceries.

"I got you your favorite ice cream." Nadia said, setting the bags down on the kitchen table. She took out the carton of ice cream and offered it to Sydney.

"No thanks." Sydney said politely, "I'm not really hungry."

"You haven't eaten anything in three weeks." Nadia stated, still trying to hand the carton over to her sister. "And it's ice cream. You can't deny ice cream." 

Sydney smiled, trying to reassure her. "I've eaten." Sydney said. It was the truth, she had eaten, just not much. "I'm not in the mood for ice cream right now. I'll eat it later." 

Nadia didn't buy it. "Sydney everyone's starting to worry about you." Her tone became more serious. She put the carton of ice cream on the table beside her and walked up to where Sydney was sitting. "Stressing yourself out and worrying is only going to make this situation worse."

Sydney was going to give her usual answer, the one she had given everyone when they tried to offer words of advice. But she hestitated before answering. She was tired of holding back. She was tired of waiting for answers and trying to stay strong. Sydney was tired of keeping everything in. "I'll be honest." she said, the smile evaporating from her face "I'm terrified. Vaughn has been gone for 2 weeks and 6 days now. There's only one day left until the CIA declares him dead. Why? Because they think that 3 weeks is a reasonable amount of time to track him down. Well it's not, and they are going to declare Vaughn dead and I don't know what I'm going to do."

Tears began to pool in Sydney's eyes. Nadia put her hand on Sydney's shoulder as she continued to talk. "Since I've known him, Vaughn has been my rock. He's comforted me when my family problems get bad, when missions go bad. He has helped me out when no one else would. I've relied on him so much and now he's relying on me and I can't do anything to help him. I know he's alive Nadia." Sydney was almost sobbing now, she rested her head in her sister's arms.

"I'm sorry." Nadia whispered,the two remained there for quite some time. Nadia comforted Sydney as best as she could.

All Sydney could think about was in less than a day she would be in a breifing room listening to Sloane's speech on how the CIA did 'everything that they could'. She would listen to him talk and he would say how sorry he was for the loss of Agent Vaughn. A new star would be put up on the wall and Vaughn would eventually move to the back of everyone's mind. Except hers.

She was not going to let this happen.


End file.
